David has sent along a ten day journal. Topics include Ice and Fire, Roads to Moscow, the Olympic Games, and more. Thanks David!
Full text continued after the break…
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Ten Days In London Town
Thursday 26th July 2012
After nearly three months of miserable wet weather, we woke to sunshine, our little world – our
England – transformed. We’d got up early and were dressed and ready to go to watch the Olympic
torch pass by at the bottom of our street, less than five hundred yards from where we live, here in
this leafy Islington square. It was due to pass at fifteen minutes past eight, and I have to admit that
I had very low expectations. From what I’d heard there were 33 torches making similar trips across
London, and I couldn’t imagine they’d be anything special, but it was never going to happen in my
lifetime again, so I thought I’d check it out.
To our surprise, the bottom of the room was packed with people, and, looking up and down the
main road, it looked like there were people six to eight deep all the way along its very long length,
not to speak of people sitting on high walls or standing on their balconies, with a good half of them
waving union jack flags. Our friends and neighbours Patty and Richard were there with their kids, as
we were with ours, and after chatting for a few minutes, we realised the procession was headed up
the road towards us. The crowd went wild.
The police motorbikes were first, and to my astonishment their riders were grinning and high-
fiving people as they slowly drove along. That set the tone. What followed was a twenty minute
procession with the Games’ sponsors product names emblazoned on the brightly-coloured sides
of the huge coaches, and dancers and yet more dancers, and cheery-looking helpers, and bouncy
music and… then the torch bearer, making her way toward the town hall. All incredibly impressive,
and made more so by the strongly positive atmosphere of the crowd. The noise was amazing (and
deafening) and we walked back with big smiles on our faces. Hey..,. perhaps the Games were going
to be okay after all. Later on, I was to learn that several million people had turned out to all the
various processions going on across the capital.
The rest of that day I spent at the computer, working on the synopsis of a new book I’ve been
putting together these past few weeks. Now I’m not going to say anything about what this new thing
is, not until I’ve got a sale, anyway, but whilst it’s quite definitely science fiction, it’s also a total
departure. Come the evening, when I finally backed off, I had over thirty five pages of synopsis, in
single-space format. And it was almost there. Two books, as it turned out, and a total of 62 chapters.
Two big stories intercut. I’ve written six of those chapters already, and I think I’ve got the tone of it.
But beyond that…. Well, watch this space.
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